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Directions

-Read the excerpt below from Donald Davis posted at The Augusta Chronicle on March 11.
-Read "Types of Media Bias" in the right column. Then answer the questions.

In “Benghazi cover-up continues,” posted March 11 at The Augusta Chronicle, Donald Davis writes:

There are about 30 survivors of the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks on the United States’ Benghazi, Libya, consulate and nearby CIA facility. These were not deep-cover clandestine operatives whose identities still need protection. If so, they would not have been operating within these highly visible facilities that were well-known to the citizens of Benghazi – and to al-Qaida. They were mostly security and communications personnel, administrators, managers and probably some overt intelligence collectors. They all were interviewed by U.S. investigators the day after the attack, and obviously have been interviewed more in-depth since.

Whatever they had to say, the Obama administration has gone to unprecedented lengths to conceal by refusing to have them interviewed by Congress or any news media. The administration even refuses to identify them or disclose their locations. We don’t know [who they are or where they are].

This contrasts sharply with the immediate release of sensitive information and availability of operations personnel to the media following the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. In the administration’s rush to take credit, it even disclosed the use of DNA to identify bin Laden – information that quickly led to the arrest and 30-year prison sentence for the Pakistani doctor who collected the DNA for us.

Now, this “most transparent administration ever” is in full cover-up mode a la Watergate, and is being assisted by a complicit liberal media that have shown no interest in the survivors. There are many questions to be answered about the killing of our ambassador and three other brave Americans at Benghazi, and the Obama administration [is not being required to provide any information].

Identifying Media Bias

To accurately identify different types of bias, you should be aware of the issues of the day, and the liberal and conservative perspectives on each issue.

Types of Media Bias:

Questions

1.  CBS News is the only mainstream media outlet to publish any report questioning the Obama administration’s refusal to allow the media access to the survivors of the Benghazi attack (in a report written by Sharyl Attkisson at CBS News on 3/11/13).  What type of bias is the media displaying by the lack of reports on this important news story?

2.  In the excerpt below, Mr. Davis writes: “There are many questions to be answered about the killing of our ambassador and three other brave Americans at Benghazi.  [The Obama administration] is being assisted [in covering up the facts] by a complicit…media that have shown no interest in the survivors.” Ask a parent what he/she thinks about Mr. Davis’ assertion.


Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the answers.

Answers

1.  By choosing not to report on the Obama administration’s refusal to allow access to the Benghazi witnesses, the media is exhibiting bias by: 

  • story selection
  • omission
  • and even selection of sources (by allowing their organizations to be put off by the Obama administration)
  • and spin (by only publishing the information provided by the administration and then letting the story drop)

2.  Answers vary.